WEBVTT 00:00:01.919 --> 00:00:09.439 This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:14.480 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:16.320 --> 00:00:17.600 Pray with me. 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:21.280 God, thank you for the privilege that we have to be in your house. 00:00:21.440 --> 00:00:26.320 Thank you for the freedom that we have to enjoy communion with you. 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:30.480 And God, what we invite you to do today is to speak. 00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:34.640 And we pray, Lord, that we don't just hear, but that we listen. 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:38.399 The difference is the words bouncing around versus absorbing. 00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:40.079 And Lord, we pray for absorption. 00:00:40.159 --> 00:00:44.240 We pray for your Holy Spirit to move and be among us today. 00:00:45.039 --> 00:00:46.320 Thank you for your word. 00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:48.399 Thank you for your presence. 00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:51.840 And it's in your name that we pray these things, Jesus. 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:52.799 Amen. 00:00:54.960 --> 00:00:56.320 Well, good morning. 00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:04.560 My name is Is Wade Burgess, and my apologies up front if you were expecting a polished preacher this morning. 00:01:04.959 --> 00:01:10.480 Our ushers are ready to give out refund, should you need them at the end of the of the service. 00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:13.040 Just a couple of uh things, though. 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:21.200 What you are getting today is someone who loves Jesus, who enjoys the Bible immensely, and who has been a longtime member of Graham Parkway. 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:24.480 And it's my real privilege to be in front of you this morning. 00:01:24.799 --> 00:01:27.280 Um just a couple of housekeeping notes. 00:01:27.359 --> 00:01:34.239 Uh the first one is when I was given advice about preparation this morning, I was told there's no such thing as a short, bad sermon. 00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:38.400 So we're going to test that theory today and see what you think of that. 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:46.959 The second thing, if you receive Neil's email to the church yesterday, he promised a short sermon, so I promise you we will not make a liar out of him. 00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:50.400 And so we'll we'll make sure of that uh as well. 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:56.959 Well, we've been in a sermon series over the last couple of months, I guess, entitled Life Song. 00:01:57.200 --> 00:02:10.879 And the idea behind this is that our hearts sing a particular song, our lives sing a particular song based on our understanding and knowledge of God in relationship to certain circumstances. 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:14.960 We've actually talked about how to be sad to the glory of God. 00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:19.439 We've talked about how to celebrate, we've talked about uh being in God's midst. 00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:22.879 We've even talked about how to be still on the inside. 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:34.400 And so today I want us to continue that idea of life song, how do our hearts sing, maybe uh, if you will, kind of increase the playlist of your life song. 00:02:34.639 --> 00:02:39.199 And I want to do that by giving you three characteristics of God. 00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:43.280 What I'm calling uh aspects of his occupation. 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:45.759 And I'll explain that in in just a bit. 00:02:45.919 --> 00:02:47.280 I hope it'll make sense to you. 00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:53.439 But I find it interesting that Jesus came from a carpenter. 00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:57.360 His work heritage, his apprenticeship was of carpentry. 00:02:57.520 --> 00:02:59.199 But you know, we really don't hear much about that. 00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:00.719 We don't read a whole lot about that. 00:03:00.879 --> 00:03:03.680 We don't see coffee tables or bookshelves that he made. 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:07.759 Um really, all we know is that his father was a carpenter. 00:03:08.159 --> 00:03:15.039 Now, if Jesus has been a shepherd in that time, in that day, people would have certainly uh understood that analogy. 00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:16.879 The Bible calls him a great shepherd. 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:20.080 He takes care of the flock, so that would have made sense. 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:24.080 If Jesus had been a fisherman, that would have made perfect sense. 00:03:24.240 --> 00:03:29.840 He grew up near the sea, he actually fed with fish, some of his disciples were fishermen. 00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:36.400 He says, I'll make you fishers of men, so that analogy would not have been lost on his audience then or now. 00:03:37.039 --> 00:03:53.120 But instead, we we see that he was a carpenter, and what I want to try to impress upon you today is that this is just, I think, one in a long line of subtleties that the Bible gives us. 00:03:53.360 --> 00:04:05.360 I think it's kind of God's way of winking at us as if to say there's small, sometimes seemingly minute details that if you're willing to dig a little deeper, there's some real treasure here. 00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:10.240 And I think that's what God does when he just says, yep, Jesus was a carpenter and then moves on. 00:04:10.319 --> 00:04:13.840 And so we're gonna unpack uh three aspects of that. 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:22.160 And the way we're going to do it is I'm gonna take you on a really quick tour of about three places in the Bible that we're going to look at that. 00:04:22.399 --> 00:04:28.319 Now, speaking of tours, uh, I love history, I love taking tours and all this stuff. 00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:31.279 Uh too many times I insert myself as the tour guide. 00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:36.800 About, I don't know, four or five years ago, my wife Amy and I are in Washington, D.C., and I love D.C. 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:38.639 I've been going there a long time. 00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:44.879 My parents took me first when I was, I think it was maybe elementary or junior high, been a half a dozen times or so. 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:52.639 I love the history and all the nuances that are there, the the just all the museums, all of that stuff I enjoy. 00:04:52.879 --> 00:04:54.160 So Amy and I are there. 00:04:54.240 --> 00:04:58.480 We're actually staying in the Jefferson Hotel, a hotel that has certain significance. 00:04:58.639 --> 00:05:03.360 And uh we had some time to kill one evening, and we said, hey, why don't we go on a night tour? 00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:04.319 That that sounds good. 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:05.920 I've not seen DC at night. 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:06.959 I hear this is the way to go. 00:05:07.040 --> 00:05:10.639 And by the way, it is awesome to see at night. 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:18.480 So uh they said, okay, for those that are on the night tour, you're gonna get in a bus, and you're gonna, the bus is gonna take you to the start of the night tour. 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:23.680 So we get on the bus, and I don't know, there's you know, 10, 15, 20 people on the bus with us. 00:05:23.920 --> 00:05:29.120 And uh as we're pulling out, I lean over and I go, Amy, he's not telling us about that. 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:31.759 She said, Well, we're not even on the tour yet. 00:05:31.920 --> 00:05:32.720 What do you expect? 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:34.399 And I'm like, Yeah, but he ought to be telling. 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:35.439 I mean, we're missing it. 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:37.199 These people need to know about all this. 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:46.000 So we go to the night tour and we go through the tour, and uh the tour completes, and we get back on the bus taking us back to our hotel, and I couldn't resist. 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:51.759 I decided that I would share some of my intimate knowledge of DC with the people that were on the bus. 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:59.759 And as interested as I was in sharing, they were the exact opposite of hearing, uh, but it's their loss, is what I've I've attributed to. 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:04.319 So we're on the bus back to the hotel, and and I just stand up. 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:08.720 Now, having been with me for longer than about 15 minutes, Amy knows what's coming. 00:06:08.800 --> 00:06:12.000 She's got this sixth sense, uh-oh, this is not going well. 00:06:12.240 --> 00:06:16.240 And so I stand up and she kind of grabs me and says, No, no, don't do it. 00:06:16.399 --> 00:06:20.319 And I stand up and I say, Hey folks, if you look over to your left, that's the Washington Hilton. 00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:25.360 Now, in the 80s, this was the exit that Ronald Reagan used when he was shot under the attempted assassination. 00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:27.199 On your right is the Russian consulate. 00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:27.920 You blah, blah, blah. 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:32.240 And I'm going through this, and she the whole time's pulling on my sleeve, going, They don't want to hear that. 00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:38.639 Now, nothing was proven better than when I got off the bus and I'm expecting applause and people throwing money in the aisle for me. 00:06:38.879 --> 00:06:41.040 I get off to dead silence. 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:47.600 And in fact, as I'm exiting the bus, I thought the bus driver tried to trip me because I was making him look bad of not telling him. 00:06:47.759 --> 00:06:50.879 And so today, I don't want to risk me being the tour guide. 00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:53.199 Today we're going to use David as our tour guide. 00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:56.800 Now, you know David, a writer of many of the Psalms. 00:06:57.040 --> 00:07:01.199 The Bible describes David as a man after God's own heart. 00:07:01.439 --> 00:07:07.439 He was king of Israel and certainly a key character in the God narrative. 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:20.079 And so we're going to let David be our tour guide on this, and we're going to begin our first carpenter attribute, if you will, by looking at how God is the creator of new. 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:24.079 If you have your Bibles, and if you don't, there's one on the row with you. 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:27.040 But if you have your Bibles, turn to Psalm 104. 00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:29.920 We're going to read verses 1 through 10. 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:35.839 Now, just a note, I'm reading today from the message, and it's the Bible in contemporary language. 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:42.800 Um, I don't think it gives a different picture, but but sometimes gives maybe uh a little um richer, fuller picture. 00:07:42.959 --> 00:07:47.199 And I love how easy it is to understand for me, and so that's why I read from that. 00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:50.639 So if it's a little bit different than your translation, that's why. 00:07:50.720 --> 00:07:52.399 So Psalm 104. 00:07:53.680 --> 00:07:55.920 O my soul, bless God. 00:07:56.480 --> 00:08:05.920 God, my God, how great you are, beautifully, gloriously robed, dressed up in sunshine and all heaven stretched out for your tent. 00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:21.040 You built your palace on the ocean deeps, made a chariot out of clouds and took off on wind wings, you commandeered winds as messengers, appointed fire and flame as ambassadors. 00:08:21.439 --> 00:08:26.560 You set earth on a firm foundation so that nothing could shake it ever. 00:08:27.199 --> 00:08:34.480 You blanketed earth with ocean, covered the mountains with deep waters, then you roared, and the water ran away. 00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:37.600 Your thunder crash put it to flight. 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:45.279 Mountains pushed up, valleys spread out, and the places you assigned them, you set boundaries between earth and sea. 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:47.919 Never again will earth be flooded. 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:54.159 You started the springs and rivers, set them flowing among the hills. 00:08:55.120 --> 00:09:01.840 We could have used multiple uh places, multiple references in the Bible to demonstrate the the maker of new. 00:09:02.159 --> 00:09:03.440 Obviously, we could have used Genesis. 00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:07.600 We could, I mean, just put a finger anywhere in Psalm almost, and you hear that. 00:09:07.679 --> 00:09:19.440 Uh in fact, I look over uh across the page from where I am at the bottom of chapter 102, and David reminds us he laid earth's foundations a long time ago and handcrafted the very heavens. 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:27.919 In Psalm, the way the message describes it, it says, God made handcrafted sky jewelry and put it on display. 00:09:28.799 --> 00:09:33.440 That, I believe, is the first aspect of God still being a carpenter. 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:35.679 The fact that he creates new. 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:40.799 And here's what's awesome about the fact that he creates new is that he does it out of nothing. 00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:44.960 Unlike our carpenters here, obviously we've got to have something, some raw material. 00:09:45.120 --> 00:09:49.200 God needs no raw material to create out of new. 00:09:49.679 --> 00:09:53.200 I brought some pictures to show you kind of what I mean. 00:09:53.279 --> 00:09:59.279 And as I read that idea of he handcrafted sky jewelry, here's what I mean. 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:03.840 Our first picture that we're gonna show, this is called a Crab Nebula. 00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:06.960 Now, for those that like to travel, this is fairly close. 00:10:07.039 --> 00:10:10.159 This is only about 6,500 light years from Earth. 00:10:10.320 --> 00:10:12.480 So uh it's right in the neighborhood. 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:19.600 This actually is found in a neighboring galaxy called the Large Megellonic Cloud. 00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:25.039 Now, this um this is a result of a bright supernova explosion. 00:10:25.200 --> 00:10:28.480 Now, here's what's interesting about this particular nebula. 00:10:28.879 --> 00:10:31.360 At the center of that, there's a star. 00:10:31.840 --> 00:10:37.279 That star rotates 33 times every millisecond. 00:10:37.679 --> 00:10:52.159 What happens is it creates so much energy that it acts almost like a lighthouse that sends out light beams and radio waves, and that's what gives it that look, uh, that kind of awesome aura about it. 00:10:52.799 --> 00:10:56.639 The next picture we have is another supernova explosion. 00:10:56.799 --> 00:10:59.600 Now, this one is uh a bit further away. 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:04.799 This is 160,000 light years from Earth. 00:11:05.120 --> 00:11:15.519 Um this uh is taken with the Hubble telescope from NASA, and um it's amazing to me uh all that you capture in that. 00:11:15.679 --> 00:11:26.240 Now, remember, this is actually from an explosion, so a lot of what we're seeing was actually all one piece, maybe even one galaxy at one time, they believe, and then this explosion happened, and that's what we get. 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:31.759 I can't help but think, by the way, when God said, Hey, uh Abraham, can you count the stars? 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:33.519 Abraham just saw what we see. 00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:37.279 He did not even, I mean, God hadn't even touched this aspect yet. 00:11:37.759 --> 00:11:43.279 And then our third picture is uh is also taken with the Hubble telescope. 00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:49.600 Now, this is what NASA calls, and I love this description, it's a random patch of sky. 00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:52.720 That's what NASA calls this. 00:11:52.879 --> 00:12:00.080 What NASA uh has indicated, there are the red dots that you see are the furtherest galaxies. 00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:08.799 The reason is the way light uh emits from these things is that it's on the far spectrum, so it shows up as red, this furtherest light. 00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:12.559 The bright white is actually the closer galaxies. 00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:14.799 Now, hear me, I'm not talking about stars. 00:12:14.879 --> 00:12:17.360 I'm not talking, this is galaxies. 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:26.080 It's amazing to me uh that it was only, I think the Hubble telescope got sent in the 70s, something like that. 00:12:26.159 --> 00:12:32.639 We sent it out and we started getting pictures back uh later on in NASA is producing these pictures for us. 00:12:32.960 --> 00:12:40.720 So only fairly recently, if you think about that whole spance of time as we know it, only fairly recently are we able to see that. 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:43.519 So let's drill down to Earth just a second. 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:45.519 Let me show you two more pictures. 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:49.440 This next picture is um is taken of a fish. 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:52.320 Now, this fish is called a fang-tooth fish. 00:12:52.480 --> 00:13:05.600 I'm not sure where they came up with that name, doesn't seem to be appropriate, but this this fang-toothed fish um is he lives in an average depth of about 6,500 feet below the surface. 00:13:06.240 --> 00:13:15.840 However, a lot of fang-tooth fish have been found at depths of 16,000 feet deep in the ocean. 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:28.159 The amount of pressure that is at that depth and the amount of uh well, the amount of temperature, if you will, the lack thereof, no light, I mean it is icy depths at that thing. 00:13:28.240 --> 00:13:31.120 And this and this fish has found to thrive. 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:36.720 Now, the the final picture I have for you is actually one that I think is is kind of an exquisite creature. 00:13:36.879 --> 00:13:39.279 This is called a vampire squid. 00:13:39.919 --> 00:13:50.159 This vampire squid uh lives in lightless ocean and thrives in depths of about 10,000 feet of water. 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:52.399 Here's the point. 00:13:52.799 --> 00:14:01.679 I think it was only in the 1960s that we started to develop the technology that allowed us this kind of deep sea exploration. 00:14:02.559 --> 00:14:16.720 And so the question is: what kind of carpenter builds these kinds of creations both on earth and in the sky, and then hides it for eons for us to discover later? 00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:26.000 That's the kind of carpenter God is, I believe, and that's why I believe He is a creator of new, a very creative carpenter. 00:14:26.159 --> 00:14:32.480 And I would say that if we want to bring it down to where we live, we've all experienced that miracle of new, that miracle of new birth. 00:14:32.559 --> 00:14:35.120 All of us, by being here, of course, are have been born. 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:40.320 And if you're a parent, you know that exciting miracle that that is. 00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:43.600 But but here's the thing that I think happens to us sometimes. 00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:45.360 We see that pretty often. 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:57.279 Babies are born all the time, every day, and I think we get a little bit desensitized to the fact that God is still in the miracle business related to the miracle of new life. 00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:03.519 Just a sidebar, what we call in Louisiana land yap, just a little something extra here. 00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:09.759 You ever notice how God uses the unexpected to do what he wants to? 00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:20.480 Throughout the Old Testament, we read how he used barren women to birth nations, how he used barren women and brought to their womb national leaders. 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:35.840 And certainly I think it's appropriate to point out that instead of using a conquering king from the empire of Rome in that day, God uses a Jewish boy that gets trained to be a carpenter. 00:15:36.559 --> 00:15:42.320 And so that creative carpentry, I think, is certainly an attribute of God's character. 00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:44.320 Well, let's continue the tour. 00:15:44.480 --> 00:15:49.440 Turn just a few chapters to the left, if you will, over to Psalm 51. 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:53.840 Now, while you're turning there, let me set this up for you. 00:15:54.159 --> 00:15:58.320 So uh David is king of Israel uh when this was written. 00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:00.639 David goes out, many of you know the story. 00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:06.320 He goes out on his rooftop one day and he looks over and he sees Bathsheba bathing on her rooftop. 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:09.919 And David says, I think I'd like to get to know her. 00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:15.600 Uh and he tells some of his guys, hey, if you don't mind, would you issue an invitation to her to come over? 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:17.840 That's not really what happened. 00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:19.039 That might be the Disney version. 00:16:19.120 --> 00:16:21.039 Here's how it really played out. 00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:27.840 Um David looks over and sees Bathsheba and decides that he wants her, and he sends his men to go get her. 00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:35.919 Now, in that time, if you were the king, you didn't say, I want something, and the person that you asked it of went, eh, maybe not. 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:37.679 I'll be there on Tuesday. 00:16:37.919 --> 00:16:49.440 Instead, when the king said, Go get her, what that meant was they went and physically captured her and brought her back to him so David could have his way with her. 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:55.200 So David is in this uh adulterous affair with Bathsheba. 00:16:55.360 --> 00:17:11.920 They end up, uh she gets pregnant, he David kills her husband to cover that up, and Nathan the prophet goes to David and confronts him with this horrendous sin and this horrendous uh acts that David has been committing. 00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:15.680 And so here's David's confession in Psalm 51. 00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:26.640 Let's listen to what he says, and and we'll talk about this idea of uh God's second uh characteristic as carpenter, which is he is a repairer. 00:17:27.519 --> 00:17:40.720 Psalm 51, generous in love, God give grace, huge in mercy, wipe out my bad record, scrub away my guilt, soak out my sins in your laundry. 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:42.400 I know how bad I've been. 00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:44.640 My sins are staring me down. 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:51.200 You're the one I violated, and you've seen it all, seen the full extent of my evil. 00:17:51.599 --> 00:17:53.359 You have all the facts before you. 00:17:53.599 --> 00:17:56.079 Whatever you decide about me is fair. 00:17:56.240 --> 00:17:58.880 I've been out of step with you for a long time. 00:17:59.359 --> 00:18:02.880 What you're after is truth from the inside out. 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:08.640 Enter me, then conceive a new true life. 00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:11.920 Soak me in your laundry and I'll come out clean. 00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:14.799 Scrub me and I'll have a snow white life. 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:20.880 Tune me in to foot tapping songs, set those once broken bones to dancing. 00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:25.839 Don't look too close for blemishes, but give me a clean bill of health. 00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:28.480 God, make a fresh start in me. 00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:33.440 Shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. 00:18:33.759 --> 00:18:38.160 Don't throw me out with the trash or fail to breathe holiness in me. 00:18:38.640 --> 00:18:40.799 Bring me back from my gray exile. 00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:43.599 Put a fresh wind in my sails. 00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:49.279 Give me a job teaching rebels your ways so the lost can find their way home. 00:18:49.599 --> 00:18:56.079 Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation, God, and I'll sing anthems to your life-giving ways. 00:18:56.480 --> 00:18:58.640 Unbutton my lips, dear God. 00:18:58.799 --> 00:19:01.359 I'll let loose with your praise. 00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:04.319 Going through the motions doesn't please you. 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:06.799 A flawless performance is nothing to you. 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:10.640 I learned God worship when my pride was shattered. 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:19.519 Heart, shattered lives, ready for love, don't for a moment escape God's notice. 00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:26.240 God, being the good carpenter that he is, looks for the broken to repair. 00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:31.200 And here's the great thing about his ability to repair it's not just sin that he has to repair. 00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:33.759 God mends broken relationships. 00:19:34.079 --> 00:19:36.720 God is practical enough to mend broken bones. 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:39.039 You heard David say that as well. 00:19:39.519 --> 00:19:44.079 God even heals and repairs broken hearts. 00:19:45.519 --> 00:19:48.079 But repairs have rewards. 00:19:48.319 --> 00:19:51.759 When you mend the bone the correct way, that bone is stronger. 00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:55.920 But when we mend relationships, typically those are better than they were before. 00:19:56.079 --> 00:19:57.839 A better understanding is there. 00:19:58.559 --> 00:20:04.960 And in the case of David and Bathsheba, so the child that she has with him during that affair dies. 00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:09.920 A little later, David and Bathsheba have another child. 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:12.240 It's a son, and they call him Solomon. 00:20:12.960 --> 00:20:19.599 Solomon goes on to be the greatest, richest, smartest king that Israel has known. 00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:25.039 So repairs certainly have rewards. 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:41.119 Now, our final stop on the carpenter tour, which I told the first service sounds like a 1970s ticket somewhere, a concert or something, the carpenter tour, but our final stop is actually my favorite, and it's one of restoration. 00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:45.200 It's the act of taking something and making it better. 00:20:45.519 --> 00:20:48.799 Like new, but repurposed. 00:20:49.359 --> 00:20:52.960 And it's the scars that give that character. 00:20:53.200 --> 00:21:01.039 You know, anytime you see a carpenter or anyone restore something, they always tend to leave those scars, those little wormholes, those little blemishes and things. 00:21:01.200 --> 00:21:08.160 And I think they obviously do that on purpose for the beauty that it creates, for the character that it gives, for the story that it tells. 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:11.440 Also, I think that's why we have scars, by the way. 00:21:11.599 --> 00:21:16.880 I thought about this that, hey God, how come when you heal us, it's just not completely healed? 00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:19.519 I mean, you say that you'll forget our sin and all this. 00:21:19.680 --> 00:21:20.720 How come the scars? 00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:27.440 I think the scars are still there, not to remind us so much of the hurt and the pain and all of that. 00:21:27.920 --> 00:21:41.759 But it's my belief that the scars are still with us to remind us of the repairing, to remind us of what kind of God repairs us and repairs the broken and then restores us. 00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:55.119 It's the scars that give character and the fact that it now is not what it once was, but instead it's made better, like new, but repurposed. 00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:57.759 That's why restoration is one of my favorites. 00:21:57.839 --> 00:21:59.759 So for this final tour stop, turn a few books. 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:01.599 Over to your left. 00:22:01.839 --> 00:22:04.880 Turn to 2 Samuel chapter 9. 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:09.680 2 Samuel chapter 9. 00:22:09.759 --> 00:22:15.039 Now we're going to continue with David, even though we're leaving Psalms, we're going to continue with David being our tour guide. 00:22:15.680 --> 00:22:19.279 At this point, David is now king of Israel. 00:22:19.680 --> 00:22:22.400 David had a great friendship with Jonathan. 00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:25.039 Jonathan was King Saul's son. 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:28.160 Saul and Jonathan are killed in battle. 00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:32.640 David takes the reign of the Israel kingdom. 00:22:33.119 --> 00:22:38.559 But David and Jonathan were best of friends, kind of of biblical proportions almost. 00:22:38.720 --> 00:22:45.839 And so David is there as king, and this is what he says in 2 Samuel chapter 9. 00:22:46.319 --> 00:22:50.640 One day David asked, Is there anyone left of Saul's family? 00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:54.720 If so, I'd like to show him some kindness in honor of Jonathan. 00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:59.200 It happened that a servant from Saul's household named Zeba was there. 00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:01.839 They called him into David's presence. 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:04.160 The king asked him, Are you Zeba? 00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:06.079 Yes, sir, he replied. 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:12.960 The king asked, Is there anyone left from the family of Saul to who I can show some godly kindness? 00:23:13.440 --> 00:23:18.559 Zeba told the king, Yes, there's Jonathan's son, lame in both feet. 00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:19.680 Well, where is he? 00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:24.000 Well, he's living at the home of Maker, some of Miel in Lodabar. 00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:26.880 King David didn't lose a minute. 00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:31.759 He sent and got him from the house of Maker, some of Miel in Lodabar. 00:23:32.400 --> 00:23:43.759 When Mephiboshef, son of Jonathan, who was the son of Saul, came before David, he bowed deeply, abasing himself, honoring David. 00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:47.119 David spoke his name, Mephibosheph. 00:23:47.519 --> 00:23:48.559 Yes, sir. 00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:50.880 Don't be afraid, said David. 00:23:51.119 --> 00:23:54.960 I'd like to do something special for you in memory of your father Jonathan. 00:23:55.200 --> 00:24:00.880 To begin with, I'm returning to you all the properties of your grandfather Saul. 00:24:01.200 --> 00:24:05.599 Furthermore, from now on you'll take all your meals at my table. 00:24:05.839 --> 00:24:14.480 Shuffling and stammering, not looking him in the eye, Mephiboshev said, Who am I that you would pay attention to a stray dog like me? 00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:25.200 David then called in Ziba, Saul's right hand man, and told him, Everything that belonged to Saul and his family I've handed over to your master's grandson. 00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:33.680 You and your sons and your servants will work his land and bring in the produce, provisions for your master's grandson. 00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:40.880 Mehphiboshev himself, your master's grandson, from now on, will take all his meals at my table. 00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:44.640 Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. 00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:46.559 Now let me stop there for just a second. 00:24:46.640 --> 00:24:51.920 Here's another subtlety, by the way, another wink that kind of seems like, uh, okay, so he had fifteen sons and twenty. 00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:53.200 What's the point? 00:24:53.440 --> 00:25:00.960 David has just given Mephiboshev fifteen sons and twenty servants to work, to bring in the produce, to bring in the goods. 00:25:01.119 --> 00:25:05.680 Do you see the level that he's returned to Mephibosheth to some extent? 00:25:06.079 --> 00:25:07.599 Picking up in verse 11. 00:25:07.839 --> 00:25:12.720 All that my master the king has ordered his servant, answered Zeba, your servant will surely do. 00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:17.519 And Mephiboshef ate at David's table, just like one of the royal family. 00:25:17.759 --> 00:25:21.359 Mephiboshef also had a small son named Micah. 00:25:21.599 --> 00:25:26.640 All who were part of Zeba's household were now the servants of Mephiboshef. 00:25:26.880 --> 00:25:36.000 Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, taking all his means at the king, all of his meals at the king's table, he was lame in both feet. 00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:42.240 I wonder as we read that, and that's one of my favorite passages. 00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:45.759 I wonder as we read that, how many of you need restoration? 00:25:46.640 --> 00:25:49.519 How many of you feel lame in both feet? 00:25:50.400 --> 00:25:52.480 And here's the best part about it. 00:25:53.039 --> 00:25:56.799 Mephiboshev didn't have to do a thing to get it. 00:25:57.519 --> 00:26:01.039 He didn't ask, he wasn't required to do anything. 00:26:01.279 --> 00:26:03.599 It was the king's idea. 00:26:04.480 --> 00:26:08.319 That should sound familiar to us if we read it all in the New Testament. 00:26:08.400 --> 00:26:14.480 It was the king's idea to reach out and restore Mephiboshev. 00:26:15.920 --> 00:26:26.160 By the way, if you think about it and you think about that biblical time and how the lame were treated, Mephiboshev likely wasn't doing so well in the house he was in. 00:26:26.400 --> 00:26:28.400 Mephiboshev may have had to beg. 00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:32.960 He had probably all kind of problems related to trying to get a job and all of this. 00:26:33.039 --> 00:26:34.960 There weren't any desk jobs then, okay? 00:26:35.119 --> 00:26:38.319 There wasn't any Time magazine operators that you call or anything else. 00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:41.200 Mephiboshev was likely having a hard time. 00:26:41.359 --> 00:26:48.240 And he never probably once thought, man, if I could just get back to the king's house, that wasn't even a thought for him. 00:26:48.720 --> 00:26:51.279 But David says, you know what I'm doing? 00:26:51.519 --> 00:26:57.279 I'm doing this restoration, not because of who you are, but because of who I am. 00:26:57.759 --> 00:27:00.720 And I'm restoring you because of your father. 00:27:01.200 --> 00:27:09.519 That's what I think Jesus tells us, by the way, when he reminds us that he's still a carpenter and he's still in the restoration business. 00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:15.680 Tim Keller in his book Encounters with Jesus tells it to us this way. 00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:17.119 Let me read this exactly. 00:27:17.279 --> 00:27:26.079 He says, every other religion says if you want to find God, if you want to improve yourself, you have to do something. 00:27:26.240 --> 00:27:31.279 You have to gather your strength, you have to keep the rules, you have to free your mind, then fill your mind. 00:27:31.839 --> 00:27:43.920 Every other religion or human philosophy says, if you want to make the world right or make yourself right, then summon all your reasons and all your strength. 00:27:44.480 --> 00:27:47.839 Christianity says the exact opposite. 00:27:48.880 --> 00:27:52.880 It was the king who sought him out, and it was the king's idea. 00:27:53.279 --> 00:28:04.559 And I think the reminder of Mephiboshev, where it started out telling us he was lame in both feet and ends with the fact that he's lame in both feet, is the fact that we are never beyond restoration. 00:28:05.279 --> 00:28:14.960 We are never broken enough that God can't repair, and we're never scarred enough for God to repurpose us for his good. 00:28:16.799 --> 00:28:22.720 Now I think you would probably say, well, yeah, um we we all know about being made new. 00:28:22.799 --> 00:28:26.000 I mean, by the sheer fact that you're here, you're born, and so you're new. 00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:30.559 And I would tell you, I too know something about each of those aspects. 00:28:30.720 --> 00:28:43.200 Um the the fact that this didn't get me in the first service because they were not here. 00:28:43.759 --> 00:28:48.960 I told them, I told my parents who are here to listen to it on the iPod and save me the grief of crying in front of you. 00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:52.319 But uh I I know something about being made new. 00:28:52.480 --> 00:28:55.039 My parents tried 18 years to have me. 00:28:55.440 --> 00:29:00.799 And some of you that know me would say, well, wait, they were just probably trying to put it off as long as they could. 00:29:01.599 --> 00:29:06.400 Um but uh but but they tried 18 years. 00:29:06.720 --> 00:29:12.720 18 years of trying to say, I know God has a plan for us and let's stay with that. 00:29:12.960 --> 00:29:18.720 18 years of uh miscarriages and mishaps. 00:29:20.079 --> 00:29:25.200 And so I know a little something about being made new for a particular time. 00:29:26.160 --> 00:29:30.880 I also know about the aspect of being repaired. 00:29:31.039 --> 00:29:45.279 Um I experienced a couple of episodes of childhood sexual abuse, and through counseling and other things and a lot of prayer, I've been repaired from that, and that no longer has a negative scar for me. 00:29:46.160 --> 00:29:54.559 And despite my best efforts to ruin a marriage, it has certainly been restored, fully restored by the power of God and his carpentry. 00:29:55.359 --> 00:30:03.759 That's why I know each aspect of God being a creator of new and a repairer and a restorer. 00:30:04.799 --> 00:30:10.480 Some that have not experienced that or maybe didn't know to give God the credit for that, here's what I'll tell you. 00:30:11.279 --> 00:30:15.599 Think about this, just a few practical things that you might be thinking about. 00:30:15.759 --> 00:30:18.559 One, how about total knee replacement surgery? 00:30:18.720 --> 00:30:20.640 How about addiction recovery? 00:30:20.880 --> 00:30:26.559 How about uh infertility and miscarriages replaced with new life? 00:30:27.680 --> 00:30:30.960 And by the way, that's just a subsection of my family. 00:30:31.519 --> 00:30:42.079 That doesn't scratch the surface of what God has done, likely in many of you in this room, and the full effects of his carpentry. 00:30:44.000 --> 00:30:50.319 I'm gonna pray for us, and I'm gonna ask Clyde to come up, and Clyde's gonna play, and he may sing something over you. 00:30:50.799 --> 00:30:53.359 As Clyde comes, let me just make you aware of this. 00:30:53.519 --> 00:31:00.400 While he's doing so, we give you that time to consider what was said today, maybe what the Holy Spirit said that had your name on it. 00:31:00.640 --> 00:31:04.640 And then after our service, some of our pastors and elders will be down front. 00:31:04.799 --> 00:31:11.599 If there's any way we can pray for you or answer any questions, or just visit with you, maybe just connect in a way that's meaningful to you. 00:31:11.759 --> 00:31:14.160 It'd be our pleasure to do so. 00:31:14.640 --> 00:31:17.599 Let me pray for us and then you consider what was said. 00:31:18.720 --> 00:31:29.039 God, thank you so much that even though we don't have a lot of history of Jesus' carpentry, oh, I would argue we've got a long history of carpentry. 00:31:29.279 --> 00:31:34.079 We've got a long history of what you've been doing to create new. 00:31:34.400 --> 00:31:38.480 We need to only look around and see the miracle of life. 00:31:38.880 --> 00:31:42.160 And God, thank you so much that you're a repairer. 00:31:42.640 --> 00:31:45.839 Oh, for without that, we would be broken permanently. 00:31:46.000 --> 00:31:52.799 If it were left up to us, we'd never choose to return to the king's table, or if we did, it would all be for the wrong motives. 00:31:53.759 --> 00:31:55.839 God, you're a restorer. 00:31:57.200 --> 00:32:04.640 You give character and you remake and you repurpose all for the betterment of how it was originally designed. 00:32:05.359 --> 00:32:08.160 God, I thank you for all three aspects of your character. 00:32:08.319 --> 00:32:13.920 Thank you for all three aspects of your occupation as carpenter. 00:32:14.480 --> 00:32:16.559 For it's in your name, Jesus. 00:32:16.880 --> 00:32:17.519 Amen. 00:32:19.759 --> 00:32:23.519 Well, I told you that it would be short today, and I don't lie often. 00:32:23.839 --> 00:32:26.319 So uh let me keep that promise. 00:32:26.400 --> 00:32:29.680 Uh, if you were a visitor, you came in and were given a worship folder. 00:32:29.759 --> 00:32:32.000 On the far right side, there's a tear-off portion. 00:32:32.079 --> 00:32:41.599 If you would complete that and drop it into one of the wooden offering boxes that are located at each of our exits, just as a record of you being with us, we certainly appreciate you being here. 00:32:41.680 --> 00:32:44.160 And next week, I promise uh better preaching. 00:32:44.319 --> 00:32:50.079 Uh also you know that if you are a member of Grand Parkway, that's where you'll do your worship through giving as well. 00:32:50.240 --> 00:32:54.079 Stand to your feet, and as is our custom, I'd like to speak a blessing over you. 00:32:54.160 --> 00:33:10.640 So if you'll hold out your hands as if receiving a gift, all of us by being born or made new, a lot of us have been repaired, and most of us have been restored. 00:33:11.519 --> 00:33:16.559 Go out and live as a repaired and restored people to the glory of God. 00:33:16.799 --> 00:33:19.839 In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 00:33:20.240 --> 00:33:20.720 Amen. 00:33:20.880 --> 00:33:22.000 You're dismissed.